AGRIC PLANT POOL SET UP IN TAMALE (BACK PAGE, JULY 9, 2011)

PLANS are underway to set up an upgraded agricultural plant pool in Tamale to serve farmers in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions.
The project, which would cost US$4.2m, is expected to boost the agricultural mechanisation programme being pursued by the government, as it would make available modern agricultural implements to farmers in those parts of the country.
The National Association of Agric Mechanisation Service Centre Operators (NAAMSECO) is establishing the centre through a special funding arrangement.
Under this arrangement, the Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGPP) will provide 40 per cent of the funds as a grant, as part of its matching grants initiative.
The Stanbic Bank Ghana will make available 50 per cent of the amount in the form of a loan, whiles the association itself is required to commit the remaining 10 per cent as an equity contribution.
The Chairman of NAAMSECO, Mr Lawrence Addison and his vice, Mr Isaac Azadagli made these known to the Daily Graphic in an interview in Tamale.
They mentioned that the centre would have the full complement of mechanised equipment required for agriculture and they include tractors, bulldozers, planters, boom sprayers, harvesters, threshers, seed selectors and grain transporters.
“We want to ensure that all the processes in the production chain, from land preparation to bagging of the produce, are carried out at the centre with the aid of machines, instead of labour,” Mr Azadagli explained.
“We are also acquiring vehicles to transport the produce to storage and market centres,” he further indicated.
Already, the association has acquired space for offices and workshops for the plant pool.
“We expect that by the end of July, the equipment would be in the country and would be delivered to the centre to support farmers in this year’s farming season,” Mr Addison hinted.
The two again mentioned that NAAMSECO was currently operating 84 mechanisation centres in various parts of the country and that 48 of these centres were situated in parts of the three northern regions.
They said for now all the centres had only tractors and that this was the reason why the association was making efforts to provide the full complement of agric machinery.
They entreated tractor operators in the three northern regions to link up with the association to enable them benefit from a planned training programme in modern land preparation.
They also commended the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi for his support to the organisation, adding that the fruitful collaboration between MoFA and NAAMSECO would yield positive results for Ghana’s agriculture.
The government has, over the past few years, focused its attention on transforming the country’s agriculture from a subsistence level to commercial basis.
However, this requires the injection of heavy agricultural implements to replace the hoe and cutlass business, so as to make land preparation, planting and harvesting more effective and quicker.